Quick answer: what is this job?
PALO IT is hiring a Senior PHP Developer – PHP Version Migration Specialist in São Paulo, Brazil, to lead the migration of legacy applications to PHP 8.3+. The role sits in a technology consultancy of 400+ experts across 9 countries and is offered on a contractor (PJ) basis, with a hybrid work model.
Who We Are
Building the AI-first frontier enterprise
We are a global technology consultancy with a trademarked, AI-first approach, Gen-e2™ https://www.palo-it.com/en/services/gen-e2. It redefines how enterprises build digital products and transform their organizations with AI. We do the right thing, and we do it right. We're proud to be a World Economic Forum New Champion, and a B Corp-certified company.
- We are small enough to care locally, big enough to deliver globally (9 countries, 400+ experts from 50+ nationalities)
- We are becoming an agentic organization, adopting the AI-native operating model we bring to our clients.
- We are robust and resilient (100% independent, 0 debt, founded 2009)
- We are AI-native professionals who invest in what we believe and work as a collective intelligence
- We are positive, courageous and deliver at the leading edge
What does a Senior PHP Developer do at PALO IT?
As a Senior PHP Developer at PALO IT, you will oversee the migration of legacy business-critical systems from outdated PHP versions to PHP.
- Assessing the current environment, including PHP versions and dependencies.
- Mapping out incompatibilities and deprecated features while defining the migration strategy.
- Upgrading dependencies and ensuring all frameworks are compatible.
- Automating refactoring with tools like Rector and validating with PHPStan/Psalm.
- Creating and implementing regression tests prior to updates.
- Conducting performance, security, and stability validations post-migration.
- Documenting technical decisions and facilitating knowledge transfer to client teams.
- Acting as the technical lead by reporting progress and risks throughout the project.
What experience do you need for this role?
You're a strong fit for this Senior PHP Developer role if you have:
Required:
- 8+ years of experience with PHP in production environments.
- At least 2 successful PHP version migrations (e.g., 5.6 → 7.x, 7.x → 8.x), preferably as a technical lead.
- Expertise in changes from PHP 5 to 8 (strict typing, named arguments, breaking changes).
- Strong experience with Laravel or Symfony, along with legacy codebases.
- Proficiency in Composer and dependency conflict resolution.
- Familiarity with introducing automated tests (PHPUnit) in legacy applications.
- Hands-on experience with Rector, PHPStan, or Psalm.
- Experience with relational databases (MySQL/MariaDB or PostgreSQL) and query optimization.
- Daily use of Git, CI/CD, and Docker.
- Excellent client communication skills for effort estimation and risk management.
Nice-to-have:
- Zend Certified PHP Engineer or similar.
- Contributions to the PHP open-source community.
- Experience with infrastructure migration during PHP upgrades (e.g., Apache to Nginx).
- Knowledge of software architecture principles (e.g., DDD, Clean Architecture).
- Experience with observability tools (New Relic, Datadog) and PHP application security (OWASP Top 10).
- Background in consulting or projects with external clients.
- Intermediate or advanced English proficiency.
More About PALO IT
Why join PALO IT as an AI Native Software Engineer?
- A forward-thinking, collaborative environment join a passionate international team pushing the boundaries of AI-native development.
- Continuous personal and professional growth through PALO IT Academy, specialized training, R&D projects, and a knowledge-sharing culture.
- Global opportunities international mobility and collaboration with visionary clients and frontier tech partners.
- Empowerment to innovate shape and implement next-level AI methodologies as part of a collective intelligence.
- Competitive compensation and…